My Little Chickadee

I've been hearing but not seeing chickadees for the last couple of weeks. This was exciting; despite all the great little birds that find their way to our street during spring and fall migration, I have never before seen or heard any chickadees in the hood.

On Saturday, as I sat on the porch enjoying the paper and a glass of wine, a very small bird with a distinctive black cap flitted back and forth around the feeder, finally landing on the tree.


And then on the shepherd's crook, to give the sunflower seeds a try. It came back on Sunday as well.


And on Monday afternoon, as we shared a Civic Holiday barbeque with friends, it popped in for a bath.
I think it feels that it owns the place now -- it even stuck around for a splash while we batted some croquet balls around the back yard. Unfortunately, some raccoons got into the birdbath overnight, and broke off some lilac branches as they did. We had to move the birdbath a bit and so I hope the chickadees don't lose track of it.

All in all, what with the chickadees, some pretty little finches, juvenile mourning doves, the extended blue jay family, and a bunch of cardinals, it has been a very satisfying couple of days.

For everyone.